Documentary about competitive Scrabble players, with an emphasis on Nigeria (the so called best English-speaking Scrabble nation).

Outline (option 2):
Project Introduction
– Documentary about competitive Scrabble players, with an emphasis on Nigeria (the so
called best English-speaking Scrabble nation).
– Audience is Scrabble community, also people in general that are really passionate about
anything, people that are interested in something way outside of their lives (epistephilia
reasons, etc.).
– Topic is interesting due to the individuals involved, there are people like Nigel Richards —
who are mathematical geniuses and recluses who win Scrabble tournaments year after year –
– to people like Wellington Jighere, who was the first African to win the World Scrabble
tournament. Documentary will explore each of their stories.
Narrative Synopsis
– Look at each individual Scrabble player, their own unique struggles (the Scrabble
community has a lot of characters). Nigerian players face travel issues, people like Nigel
Richards are social recluses, etc.
– Use as a framing device the 2015 World Scrabble Championship, where the first African won
the world title. This will drive the story and create suspense.
– Interview players for commentary on that event, interspersed with present day direct
cinema style filming of their current day activities/how they prepare and compete today.
Artistic Approach
– Take inspiration from Dont Look Back and Hearts and Minds: Direct cinema at times, with
interviews interspersed like Hearts and Minds.
– Conduct interviews in locations that reveal character traits and psychology of subjects.
– Follow players unobtrusively as they go about their daily lives, choosing activities that
underline and distinguish the characteristics of each subject.
– Incorporate poetic cinematography when there is an opportunity for metaphorical language.
For example, when Richards says Scrabble fills his life and his award money helps the
community, slowly zoom out to reveal the room, which is practically empty except for the
championship trophies lining its walls, along with a humanitarian award. (In this case the
image is ironic, because the room is empty rather than “full”.)
Influences
– Hearts and Minds for the interview structure, it might be interesting to ask each interviewee
to comment on each other.
– Dont Look Back for direct cinema style of following the subjects. Maybe some camerawork
similar to Sun Come Up in how the camera followed the people as they asked for land.
– Sun Come Up, for the poetic elements tied together with a social message.
– Likely some other famous non-class documentaries such as Spellbound.
Distribution and Marketing Strategy
– Potential festivals:
DocFest, Canadian Sport Film Festival, American Documentary Film Festival,
– Rhode Island International Film Festival, Full Frame documentary film festival, DOC NYC,
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and Sundance.
– Shoot for some awards, maybe Peabody or Aurora if we’re super lucky.
– Company support like Netflix, or pitch to some broadcast network like PBS, HBO, or BBC.
– Could try screenings at conventions or other venues where lots of people in the target
audience might be, since this is a film about a hobby.
Funding
– Kickstarter/Indiegogo/GoFundMe (overall pretty low budget in general, no need for
anything too fancy).
– Duke in particular has the John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards, as well as the
Research in Practice Program Fellowship.
– Government/Nonprofit grants:
American Documentary Film Fund, the Filmmaker Fund, Rooftop Filmmakers Fund (for
purposes of publicity, color correction, and post-production services), Roy W. Dean Film
Grants, Sundance, Tribeca, and the Catapult Film Fund (for films with strong storytelling
and characters).
– Corporate sponsors: Maybe Hasbro Inc. (makers of Scrabble)
– If the film is supported by a network/company like Netflix that could take care of a lot.
Conclusion
– Raise the stakes, tie Scrabble playing to what it means to be passionate about something,
anything. Especially an activity with so little to offer in return.
– What it means to be successful, have something to be proud of, etc.
– Film deserves to be made due to the large value of epistephilia, also the messages about life.
– The relatively low budget makes it a decent return on investment.